[STOP IT'S NOT THAT BAD LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS it was just very funny between their convos about not getting used to death + why would you just trust people and now after asking lucien to take care of himself........
but waho a scene plays out on the ice:
in which lucien doesn't drop dead early in a route for once (cw: survivor guilt-esque suicidal thoughts) At the Carnival, out of the Sacrificia, the Membrum suspects—Lucien, Conrad, Anastasia, Crius Castlerock, and Maya Kirkland—the last one is voted for and cast to the flames for the murder committed the previous night. Everyone is teleported back to where they were when the night began, with Lucien back in his quarters. His hands go up to the chains around his neck, marking his status as a Sacrificium and confirming that the Carnivals will continue as the Membrum remains.
The grief and guilt on his face are clear, over sentencing an innocent woman to death. He looks as though he's about to throw up as he stumbles to his bed.
-
It is that same night as he hears voices and footsteps approaching—someone has slipped into his chambers. Lucien throws a knife at the man, who dodges.
It's Crius Castlerock, one of his fellow Sacrificia. Lucien accuses him of being the Membrum come to kill him, which Castlerock denies. Then, Tyril Lister, the inquisitor and Facilitator who oversees the Carnival by the witch's will, appears as well.
"We are here to protect you from Miss Red," Lister says.
"Even now, you suspect her!?"
"... And you still choose to believe in her innocence?" Castlerock replies.
"Of course I do!"
Castlerock clearly isn't happy to hear that, as he continues. He explains how the Membrum's victory condition is to remain the last Sacrificia standing, which means that the easiest way to win would be to just kill all the other Sacrificia during the night. As a result, he fears that Lucien may be Anastasia's target, and though he doesn't know how well he and Lister can fend off the witch-induced sleep, he asks for Lucien's permission to guard him tonight.
Conflict strikes Lucien's face for a moment, before he adamantly refuses. He accuses Castlerock of being the one to behave suspiciously, possibly at the witch's behest, and insists that Anastasia's pain and grief at the trial was genuine and that she would never come to kill him.
"I'll agree with that, at least," says Lister. "From Miss Red's perspective, she gains nothing from killing the idiotic prince that so foolishly believes in her still."
A pause, and then: "If she'd kill anyone, Cas... it'd be you."
Castlerock smiles, seeming unbothered. "Yeah, I figured."
Meanwhile, Lucien stares, apparently horrified at how flippantly the two speak of this matter, of people's lives.
-
Morning comes, and the first thing Lucien does is check on Castlerock's status. Despite their argument the night before, Lucien is genuinely relieved to hear that he's still alive and safe—though it then turns to shock when he receives news of Conrad's death instead.
He thinks of how Lister had asked about his brother's whereabouts last night, and he begins to wonder: did Lister ask so that he could protect Conrad, or to kill him?
(... Ahh, but I do dislike doubting people.
But thanks to my brother's death, we now only need to suffer the trial a maximum of two more times, as opposed to three.
—Thanks to his death...? I'm a monster for thinking so positively about the loss of a human life.
But... if one more person dies...
Ah...! What am I even considering?)
-
At the next trial, Lucien dominates, proving himself every bit the image of a prince and orator. He and Anastasia join forces to indict Castlerock as the Membrum.
Yet, when it becomes clear that they've succeeded, and Castlerock accepts his impending death—Lucien does not look triumphant, but the opposite, with his mask of steady strength cracking. And when Castlerock falls to the flames, he watches in devastation.
-
As the Carnival fades, Lucien is once again returned to his chambers. His hand goes up to the chains that remain around his neck.
...
In the dead of the night, he heads to the church, where he offers up a prayer to the Goddess for Castlerock's soul. Despite everything, he doesn't seem shocked.
(Maybe there never really was a Membrum. Maybe everyone person standing on trial is a human, and we're all dancing to the witch's lies.
That must be it! We've all fallen for the witch's deceit! And if that's true...!
... Or even if it isn't true...
I should have been the one to die.)
...
well, lucien was already looking a bit pale, but now he's even more so.]
He's seen this song and dance a few too many times. He should be able to close his eyes and ignore it, be polite for the sake of those whose memories he's prying into, but it happens in a strange flash, like he'd seen it all for himself, and whatever plays under the depths of the ice is just a recap of it all.
Either way, there's no avoiding it, nor hiding what he'd just seen.
[ He goes quiet, though it's evident he's very much mulling over something he wants to say or ask and is just debating whether it'd be appropriate... ]
[i just realized that with the part i cut out from the memory it makes less sense what it has to do with greed/charity so for any mods who might look in here please know it made more sense originally
anyway, he thinks.]
The Carnival, specifically? The witch didn't appear in our first lives, so... [mentally counts] One where Orla was the Membrum, then Sammy, then Lady Anastasia...
Depending on if we count the case with myself [given he, you know. drowned himself before killing anyone], then Lady Anastasia has lived through three timelines where the witch held Carnivals.
Each trial is one hour. [the witch really said SPEEDRUN.] We know the witch is making his move when the skies change, though the Carnivals only start once his chosen Membrum actually kills someone.
[more :thonk:]
Lady Orla—my cousin—was the Membrum in one life. The way Lady Anastasia spoke of it, it sounds as though she was caught after her first murder, though that's incongruent with the memory I've seen here...
Sammy, however, was definitely caught in the first Carnival—Lady Anastasia spoke in detail of his fate at trial, as the only time the witch intervened and took a life directly.
[a little frown at that, but.]
... And then, in the life where Lady Anastasia was the Membrum—well, you have seen what happened then, and how many rounds that took.
[he supposes that they didn't see how it ended, only that it was down to lucien and anastasia as the last two sacrificia, but lucien has his suspicions.]
From my understanding, at least, the witch doesn't typically appoint another Membrum once the first is dealt with.
—Ah, pardon. I do have to correct myself. There was a second Membrum after Sammy in that timeline [this was me jan forgetting about this], so four Carnivals altogether, though that wouldn't have anything to do with the inconsistency.
Rather, the issue is that in what I've seen here, Lady Orla wasn't caught—because Lady Anastasia was about to be voted for by the jurors, so I declared myself the Membrum to be executed in her place.
[says that bluntly.]
Though given that Lady Anastasia immediately caught onto what I was doing, and I doubt that Mael, who was also a Sacrificium in that trial, would've simply believed me either... perhaps they got the trial extended somehow? It sounds unusual, but if anyone could make it happen, it would be Lady Anastasia.
[ Obviously voicing his dislike of such a thing now doesn't really do anything, but you know. Can't help himself. Not like he doesn't understand! Doesn't mean he has to like it when somebody else does. Nobody said he couldn't be hypocritical on top of comically salty. I really thought it'd be strictly limited to Anastasia's LIs though, this game really is more YTTD than otome help me. ]
Do you think... you were close to figuring out how to break free?
[meanwhile lucien is just like oh thank the goddess that at least one of my deaths was useful to anastasia, versus the time i apparently died trying to save her and it was used to fuck her over instead.
...
he takes a moment to lowkey breathe in and out, trying to compartmentalize his emotions, between the memory he witnessed that he has decided he will unpack later (or maybe not at all, because what is there to unpack, really) and tokinaga's question, so as to avoid getting worked up and accidentally summoning a fever.]
We did figure out how to proceed, and I came up with a plan.
You know, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to think about either.
[ Just want to make sure he knows. The last thing he wants is for Lucien to get sick or upset because... what, to answer a few random questions of his curiosity? ]
[it's nothing that he doesn't think about constantly here anyway.]
There is no magic or anything like that that can stop the witch. But his magic isn't omnipotent either—a person becomes a Membrum only because when he calls, something in their heart answers them.
Crius Castlerock, for instance, never killed once even after becoming a Membrum, because his will was stronger than the witch's.
[between his own experiences and witnessing the memory just now, where crius was basically right about everything ever while lucien otoh has the worst judgment, lucien is convinced that crius is one of the greatest people in the world, actually?]
So the solution is to give the people a reason to reject him. To reveal that contrary to popular belief, he doesn't provide them with any special power, and is nothing more than a stranger to their ear suggesting that they kill. [...] If they realize that, and can truly bring themselves to believe that becoming a Membrum will only result in tragedy and their own death, then they have no reason to accept his contract.
Of course, people already know rationally not to give into temptation, so we needed to go further.
The plan was for me to give an imperial decree, as those are done so rarely that the people know it to be important. Ideally, Father would've done so, but we knew he would refuse, and thus it fell on me. [when your father reliably sucks so that you can plan based on it...] Even Lister came around to it, and he accused me of having unripe bananas in my head at first.
But as he said, we need three things: credibility, folklore, and impact. We had all three covered with the finer details, thanks to him and Zenn.
[there is an elephant in the room here but anyhow.]
[tyril started being so mean to lucien the moment they learned [redacted] but (anastasia voice) it's probably okay since lucien doesn't seem to mind
...
there is something bitter, if guilty, in lucien's smile, but he's not going to point out the glaring issue if it hasn't occurred to tokinaga, given that it'll only make tokinaga feel bad.]
The four of them—Lady Anastasia, Crius, Lister, and Zenn—are some of the most reliable people I know. [...] Lady Anastasia wasn't able to work with everyone altogether in her previous lives, so may that be her greatest strength from now on.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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He can be like on the snowy grass/dirt next to the ice sure ]
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but waho a scene plays out on the ice:
in which lucien doesn't drop dead early in a route for once (cw: survivor guilt-esque suicidal thoughts)
At the Carnival, out of the Sacrificia, the Membrum suspects—Lucien, Conrad, Anastasia, Crius Castlerock, and Maya Kirkland—the last one is voted for and cast to the flames for the murder committed the previous night. Everyone is teleported back to where they were when the night began, with Lucien back in his quarters. His hands go up to the chains around his neck, marking his status as a Sacrificium and confirming that the Carnivals will continue as the Membrum remains.
The grief and guilt on his face are clear, over sentencing an innocent woman to death. He looks as though he's about to throw up as he stumbles to his bed.
-
It is that same night as he hears voices and footsteps approaching—someone has slipped into his chambers. Lucien throws a knife at the man, who dodges.
It's Crius Castlerock, one of his fellow Sacrificia. Lucien accuses him of being the Membrum come to kill him, which Castlerock denies. Then, Tyril Lister, the inquisitor and Facilitator who oversees the Carnival by the witch's will, appears as well.
"We are here to protect you from Miss Red," Lister says.
"Even now, you suspect her!?"
"... And you still choose to believe in her innocence?" Castlerock replies.
"Of course I do!"
Castlerock clearly isn't happy to hear that, as he continues. He explains how the Membrum's victory condition is to remain the last Sacrificia standing, which means that the easiest way to win would be to just kill all the other Sacrificia during the night. As a result, he fears that Lucien may be Anastasia's target, and though he doesn't know how well he and Lister can fend off the witch-induced sleep, he asks for Lucien's permission to guard him tonight.
Conflict strikes Lucien's face for a moment, before he adamantly refuses. He accuses Castlerock of being the one to behave suspiciously, possibly at the witch's behest, and insists that Anastasia's pain and grief at the trial was genuine and that she would never come to kill him.
"I'll agree with that, at least," says Lister. "From Miss Red's perspective, she gains nothing from killing the idiotic prince that so foolishly believes in her still."
A pause, and then: "If she'd kill anyone, Cas... it'd be you."
Castlerock smiles, seeming unbothered. "Yeah, I figured."
Meanwhile, Lucien stares, apparently horrified at how flippantly the two speak of this matter, of people's lives.
-
Morning comes, and the first thing Lucien does is check on Castlerock's status. Despite their argument the night before, Lucien is genuinely relieved to hear that he's still alive and safe—though it then turns to shock when he receives news of Conrad's death instead.
He thinks of how Lister had asked about his brother's whereabouts last night, and he begins to wonder: did Lister ask so that he could protect Conrad, or to kill him?
(... Ahh, but I do dislike doubting people.
But thanks to my brother's death, we now only need to suffer the trial a maximum of two more times, as opposed to three.
—Thanks to his death...? I'm a monster for thinking so positively about the loss of a human life.
But... if one more person dies...
Ah...! What am I even considering?)
-
At the next trial, Lucien dominates, proving himself every bit the image of a prince and orator. He and Anastasia join forces to indict Castlerock as the Membrum.
Yet, when it becomes clear that they've succeeded, and Castlerock accepts his impending death—Lucien does not look triumphant, but the opposite, with his mask of steady strength cracking. And when Castlerock falls to the flames, he watches in devastation.
-
As the Carnival fades, Lucien is once again returned to his chambers. His hand goes up to the chains that remain around his neck.
...
In the dead of the night, he heads to the church, where he offers up a prayer to the Goddess for Castlerock's soul. Despite everything, he doesn't seem shocked.
(Maybe there never really was a Membrum. Maybe everyone person standing on trial is a human, and we're all dancing to the witch's lies.
That must be it! We've all fallen for the witch's deceit! And if that's true...!
... Or even if it isn't true...
I should have been the one to die.)
...
well, lucien was already looking a bit pale, but now he's even more so.]
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He's seen this song and dance a few too many times. He should be able to close his eyes and ignore it, be polite for the sake of those whose memories he's prying into, but it happens in a strange flash, like he'd seen it all for himself, and whatever plays under the depths of the ice is just a recap of it all.
Either way, there's no avoiding it, nor hiding what he'd just seen.
Ah... ]
...Lucien-kun. Need an extra scarf?
[ Your paleness... ]
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...]
I'm all right. I apologize that you had to witness that.
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...I tried to close my eyes, but it's like they really just smash it into your head...
[ Unavoidable memshares always. ]
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...How many times have you guys gone through that thing?
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anyway, he thinks.]
The Carnival, specifically? The witch didn't appear in our first lives, so... [mentally counts] One where Orla was the Membrum, then Sammy, then Lady Anastasia...
Depending on if we count the case with myself [given he, you know. drowned himself before killing anyone], then Lady Anastasia has lived through three timelines where the witch held Carnivals.
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And... they all continue like that, until... How long is each "Carnival"?
[ The way that leaves such a bitter taste in his mouth. Carnival. ]
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[more :thonk:]
Lady Orla—my cousin—was the Membrum in one life. The way Lady Anastasia spoke of it, it sounds as though she was caught after her first murder, though that's incongruent with the memory I've seen here...
Sammy, however, was definitely caught in the first Carnival—Lady Anastasia spoke in detail of his fate at trial, as the only time the witch intervened and took a life directly.
[a little frown at that, but.]
... And then, in the life where Lady Anastasia was the Membrum—well, you have seen what happened then, and how many rounds that took.
[he supposes that they didn't see how it ended, only that it was down to lucien and anastasia as the last two sacrificia, but lucien has his suspicions.]
From my understanding, at least, the witch doesn't typically appoint another Membrum once the first is dealt with.
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If there's inconsistencies, doesn't that mean there were more than three?
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—Ah, pardon. I do have to correct myself. There was a second Membrum after Sammy in that timeline [this was me jan forgetting about this], so four Carnivals altogether, though that wouldn't have anything to do with the inconsistency.
Rather, the issue is that in what I've seen here, Lady Orla wasn't caught—because Lady Anastasia was about to be voted for by the jurors, so I declared myself the Membrum to be executed in her place.
[says that bluntly.]
Though given that Lady Anastasia immediately caught onto what I was doing, and I doubt that Mael, who was also a Sacrificium in that trial, would've simply believed me either... perhaps they got the trial extended somehow? It sounds unusual, but if anyone could make it happen, it would be Lady Anastasia.
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[ Obviously voicing his dislike of such a thing now doesn't really do anything, but you know. Can't help himself. Not like he doesn't understand! Doesn't mean he has to like it when somebody else does. Nobody said he couldn't be hypocritical on top of comically salty. I really thought it'd be strictly limited to Anastasia's LIs though, this game really is more YTTD than otome help me. ]
Do you think... you were close to figuring out how to break free?
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...
he takes a moment to lowkey breathe in and out, trying to compartmentalize his emotions, between the memory he witnessed that he has decided he will unpack later (or maybe not at all, because what is there to unpack, really) and tokinaga's question, so as to avoid getting worked up and accidentally summoning a fever.]
We did figure out how to proceed, and I came up with a plan.
[there is an unspoken "but".]
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You know, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to think about either.
[ Just want to make sure he knows. The last thing he wants is for Lucien to get sick or upset because... what, to answer a few random questions of his curiosity? ]
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[it's nothing that he doesn't think about constantly here anyway.]
There is no magic or anything like that that can stop the witch. But his magic isn't omnipotent either—a person becomes a Membrum only because when he calls, something in their heart answers them.
Crius Castlerock, for instance, never killed once even after becoming a Membrum, because his will was stronger than the witch's.
[between his own experiences and witnessing the memory just now, where crius was basically right about everything ever while lucien otoh has the worst judgment, lucien is convinced that crius is one of the greatest people in the world, actually?]
So the solution is to give the people a reason to reject him. To reveal that contrary to popular belief, he doesn't provide them with any special power, and is nothing more than a stranger to their ear suggesting that they kill. [...] If they realize that, and can truly bring themselves to believe that becoming a Membrum will only result in tragedy and their own death, then they have no reason to accept his contract.
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[ And... maybe being in a position of power to be to be able to write that statement as truth is a boon? ]
I think I get it.
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Of course, people already know rationally not to give into temptation, so we needed to go further.
The plan was for me to give an imperial decree, as those are done so rarely that the people know it to be important. Ideally, Father would've done so, but we knew he would refuse, and thus it fell on me. [when your father reliably sucks so that you can plan based on it...] Even Lister came around to it, and he accused me of having unripe bananas in my head at first.
But as he said, we need three things: credibility, folklore, and impact. We had all three covered with the finer details, thanks to him and Zenn.
[there is an elephant in the room here but anyhow.]
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[ UNRIPE BANANAS IN THE HEAD? ]
Sounds like you got a lot of things figured out between all of you.
That's good.
[ Whoa... power of friendship or whatever... Tokinaga's not going to point out any flaws or wrenches here, he wants you to succeed. ]
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...
there is something bitter, if guilty, in lucien's smile, but he's not going to point out the glaring issue if it hasn't occurred to tokinaga, given that it'll only make tokinaga feel bad.]
The four of them—Lady Anastasia, Crius, Lister, and Zenn—are some of the most reliable people I know. [...] Lady Anastasia wasn't able to work with everyone altogether in her previous lives, so may that be her greatest strength from now on.
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You have a... really complicated family to say the least, but I'm glad you have allies too.
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